


Shared

by FatalCookies



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Implied/Referenced Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2016-02-19
Packaged: 2018-05-21 16:54:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6058873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FatalCookies/pseuds/FatalCookies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yellow Pearl does not flatter herself that she and Blue Diamond’s Pearl share a thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shared

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chinquix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chinquix/gifts).



> Written for the birthday of the lovely Chinquix.

Yellow Pearl does _not_  flatter herself that she and Blue Diamond’s Pearl share a thing. 

They’re Pearls, for a start, they have nothing to themselves which they _could_  share, and even if one hoped to make the stretch of _shared circumstances_ , the comparison would be faulty at best. Blue Diamond is soft-spoken manners and cool disposition, grand appearances and aesthetic tastes dependent upon mystique and court intrigue. Yellow Diamond is hard-edged logic with a clear path set and no patience for insubordination, she is corners and tempers, dangerous lows and demanding highs. Blue Pearl is a trinket of appearance; Yellow Pearl, a tool of utility. 

They certainly don’t share words. Blue Pearl never utters a single one.

Nor were there secrets shared between them. The single one that Yellow Pearl knows for a fact Blue Pearl keeps is not much of a secret, not among their kind. In the centuries following the war, Blue Pearl showed every Pearl she _could_  the projected memory of a Renegade Pearl, grand, impossible—played it enough that Yellow Pearl came to quietly begrudge that impossible Pearl she never even _saw_ with her own eyes.

No. No, indeed—she does not flatter herself, nor flatter the Blue Pearl, that either of them shares a thing with the other.

\--

It’s only...

\--

There is a day, among so many of the same sort, when the Diamonds meet and deign the conversation too urgent to keep even the appearances of their own Pearls at their side. And so they leave their prized self-reflective trinkets outside the door. 

Yellow Pearl is skittish already—when her Diamond is in a mood like this, there is that much more ample opportunity for glaring gazes, quick hands and quicker steps. She knows better than not to watch.

But the real thing of it is, she forgets that her Diamond isn’t the only one with a temper. Oh, the other Diamonds may be slower to anger, their strict rule and hard edges may show in different ways, but she forgets that they are all of the same cut, the same gemetics. The door closes, and she finds her eye immediately drawn to a flicker of movement which turns out to be a slight shudder of Blue Pearl’s shoulders. She keeps her hands posed, but Yellow sees the way her thumbs rub subtly against one another.

She sniffs. “You too?”

It comes out a little too loud and a little to haughty and a little too much—well—like herself. Blue turns her head, and presses her lips together, bows her chin, and Yellow hates it a little. She has been around too long to forgive herself any missteps—even ones carried out where her Diamond cannot see. Maybe especially the ones where her Diamond can’t see.

Yellow Pearl huffs softly, and steps out in front of Blue Pearl, because to stand at her side would be too hard to see, and the ability to see is a Pearl’s best defense in dangerous hours. (For a brief instant, Yellow despises the veil of hair before Blue’s eyes.) Slowly, knowing just how important it is not to move too quickly, she reaches out a hand.

It takes a full four minutes for her to work up the courage, but eventually, Blue unclasps her hands, and reaches out, touching her fingertips to Yellow’s palm. Yellow smirks. 

She’d say, _stay safe_ , but it goes without saying.

\--

“I’m not exaggerating!” Yellow insists as Blue drops her jaw, covers her open mouth in silent laughter. “Right behind my Diamond’s own back! Quartzes are as petty as any courtier I’ve ever seen. Stuck a foot right out, and the Jasper landed _flat on her face_. Small miracle it didn’t crack her. All because one of them got some battle and the other one—oh, who even cares, the point is—”

Blue waves her hand, palm down, briefly back and forth. Yellow crosses her arms, but falls agreeably silent. She takes a thumb, pets it fleetingly against the side of her own wrist—two curled hands coming to her chest, brushing out towards her shoulders—one finger up—same hand, walking fingers—other hand, two fingers up—same hand, slapping down the first hand with the walking fingers.

“—you see!” Yellow exclaims, throwing up her arms. “it’s just like I’ve been saying! Quartzes are just as petty, just as incorrigible, doesn’t matter if they’re Jaspers, Tigers Eyes or Amethysts—give them half a reason and they revert right back to the brutish clods they are! They’re supposed to be soldiers, there isn’t a need for all this inefficient nonsense.”

Blue smiles, and lifts up one hand, fingers extended. With a quick motion, her other hand grazes the first, and she retracts her fingers against her palm, then pops her hand back open in a flurry of fingers—and once again, retracts her fingers tight into a small fist. 

Yelllow’s mouth drops open. “She _reverted back to her gem_?”

The smile on Blue’s face takes a turn towards impish, and she passes one finger before her veiled eyes, then draws a small Diamond on her chest

For half a moment, Yellow is actually speechless. “Fine,” she says at last, haughtily, “you win. Right in front of the Diamond herself and they’re stupid enough to rough-house, fine. You win. Amethysts are the most reckless of the lot. That’s your Diamond’s legacy, I hope you’re happy.”

Blue covers her mouth with both hands, her cheeks happily lifted, her shoulders quivering. 

It’s funny. She’s never made a sound besides a hiss or a huff, but it’s never been difficult for Yellow to understand her anyway. Just because she’s the only one with words on her tongue hardly means she’s the only one getting a word in edgewise.

\--

“I don’t know why you still insist on showing that blasted thing,” she grouses quietly, when the other Pearls have scattered, and when Blue returns her hand contentedly over her gem, the projection well and ended, now. 

Blue turns her head and tilts her chin, and Yellow frowns. 

“I know, I know. I’m not going to stop talking to you again, even if I _should_ , don’t look at me like that. But even you’ll concede that it’s been _ages_. I trust that even hope has an expiration date.”

Blue’s lips wrinkle up—it’s a funny thing, not a frown, certainly not a grimace, but it isn’t a smile, either. It’s some strange in-between expression.

Exasperated, Yellow rolls her eyes (perfect excuse to glance away) and waves a hand. “Oh, sure, maybe if there had been some _development_  in all these centuries, I’d be less skeptical. But at this point, you realize, it looks more like some sort of—of— _hero worship_  on your part.”

And the thing is, Yellow doesn’t entirely understand Blue’s reaction, at first. The Pearl’s lips go slack, as if in realization—and then she makes a sound like a sudden sniff, and covers her suddenly-smiling mouth. Her shoulders begin to quiver. Yellow bristles at the same moment she feels herself paradoxically blush. 

“What— _what_! What is so funny? What are you laughing at, I’m only pointing out how ridiculous you—!”

She doesn’t get around to finishing her accusation. Blue takes her wrist before she can manage, and tugs at her, and Yellow is too stunned to snatch her hand back or argue before Blue has coaxed her fingers open, and placed her palm directly overtop her blue-tinted gem. 

Yellow freezes. She is fairly certain her face is more orange than yellow, just now. And Blue keeps her head tilted up, eyes very obviously on her, and keeps smiling.

After a long moment, the Blue Pearl puts up one finger on her free hand, then slowly points that same finger at Yellow. She presses Yellow’s palm more tightly over her gem. Yellow balks. 

“What?”

Blue starts to repeat the motion, but Yellow quickly snatches her hand to stop her, before she can manage. “Don’t give me that,” she snaps, “I understood you the first time! I just mean...  _augh_ —" She makes a short, exasperated noise. "Don't be ridiculous, you know me, you couldn’t have known I’d react well! Where in all the stars did you get the idea it would be _smart_ of you to show  _me_ your precious little memory, first?”

She means it to sound haughty, but it doesn’t come off that way at all, and it isn’t what she means. And Blue must know that, too. Her mouth drops open in silent laughter, and Yellow's hand finally, finally relaxes.

Her gem feels pleasantly cool to the touch.

\--

All of this is to say, perhaps—if she really makes the stretch to think about it—against all the odds, _maybe_ —perhaps.

Perhaps there are a _few_ things.

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally posted on Tumblr, and can be found [here](http://fatalcookies.tumblr.com/post/139498743128/shared).


End file.
